Five Fateful Moments
by NoelleWynters
Summary: Moments in time that may not seem important, but sometimes they really are.


_Standard disclaimer applies: I own nothing, this is all for fun._

**The First**

Cyrus always wondered as he grew up why everyone he knew had a mother and a father. It had never really bothered him, or even occurred to him to wonder about it, until a friend or two decided to pester him. Amir, his friend for as long as he could remember, was the worst for it. He enjoyed telling Cyrus that his father had run away after he was born, not wanting to be bothered with a child like him. He always called Cyrus weak because he only had a woman to raise him, which was far from the truth.

In later years Cyrus would realize Amir had never been his friend and if he'd simply walked away from that fake friendship his life would have turned out far more favourably.

One night, after listening to the boy he thought was a friend, he returned home to ask his mother what had happened to his father. He had waited until she'd prepared tea, as was a normal tradition in the evenings, tea and stories which he always delighted in.

But that night, as she handed him his cup of tea he worked up the nerve to ask her about his father. He really wasn't overly concerned, but he couldn't help his curiosity at times either. When he saw the sorrow flicker in his mother's eyes he regretted it.

"Does it matter to you? You are almost ten years of age, why bring it up now?" she asked, pulling a chair up beside her son.

Cyrus thought for a moment, it really didn't matter to him personally but a small part of him would like to be able to tell his friends the man didn't leave because he was a less than ideal child.

His mother, Laylah, smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him close as he explained why he was asking. "Cyrus, your father never met you. And that is his loss. I don't know why he left, I don't know if he's still alive. One evening he did not return home, I inquired after him with his parents and they would tell me nothing. I can only assume he grew tired of me and left, as well this is shortly after I told him I was with child. Maybe he couldn't handle the responsibility that comes with being a parent, but that is why he is not here."

Cyrus sipped at his tea, glad to hear the tale but sorry to have made his mother sad in the process. He set his cup aside for a moment, and then leaned over to kiss his mother on the cheek. "Well, I will never leave you," he promised.

And he meant every word.

**The Second**

"Shut up Amir," Cyrus snapped, walking away from his little group of friends. If they could be called that anymore, ever since Amir fancied himself the leader of the group the only time it felt like they were friends was when that particular one wasn't around.

He didn't get far before the one who had raised his ire dashed after him and grabbed him firmly by the arm. "Really Cyrus, you're fifteen years old. You don't have to spend every evening at home with your mother. Why don't you come with us? It will be fun," Amir insisted.

Cyrus glared at him; he knew what this fun would be. Granted, he had a habit of getting himself into trouble, with or without his friends around, but he wasn't going to be partaking in their idea of fun. "I said no. One of these days the fathers of all the girls you terrorize are going to come after each and every one of you, and I don't envy you that."

The humour left Amir's face at that, and was replaced with annoyance. "Just because your father walked out on your mother you seem to think that she needs you so desperately. I doubt she's going to care if you are out with us or at home, she must realize you're growing up and will one day want to marry, and shouldn't you have a little fun before you find yourself stuck with one girl for the rest of your life?"

"I told you to shut up. Do as you please, but I'm not taking part in this. Any other little adventure, ill advised or not, I'm all for. But I won't go around terrorizing girls with you lot. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to be off home before it gets dark. And I'm not keen on being around you all when said fathers start looking to set you all straight," Cyrus said.

With that he shook off Amir's grip on his arm and walked away. It wasn't that he didn't like any of the girls his age, or even slightly older, but there was no way he'd go about meeting them in the same fashion as his friends. He couldn't even understand why any of the girls put up with being treated like nothing more than something to be tossed aside when Amir and the rest tired of them.

It certainly didn't seem like much of a way to live.

**The Third**

Laylah smiled as she handed Cyrus the small box. It was his 20th birthday; she could hardly believe her only son was an adult. Granted, he had been acting like one for a very long time now, if you ignored some of his misadventures that had ended with him being dragged home by some angry citizen of their community. That she could forgive, she knew at times it was more going along with his friends, but he'd always had a mischievous streak in him, and he never caused much harm when he was getting into trouble.

Besides, he would grow out of that soon enough. She knew before long he would be looking to be married and start his own family.

Cyrus opened the box, glancing up at his mother who was watching him eagerly. They didn't have a lot in way of money, but he knew she normally tried to find interesting gifts for special occasions. He knew that because he was the same, the gifts were normally small but well thought out.

He took the compass out and looked it over, surprised when no matter how he positioned it, it always pointed towards his mother. He looked at her confused, and his confusion grew as she laughed. "It is not a normal compass; it is called a Lost and Found. No matter where you are or where you go, it will always point you towards what you love most. At the moment that seems to be me, but in time it will point towards someone else I'm sure," she explained.

It was quite an interesting gift, he had to admit. He tried to see if it would change positions, but still it would point towards Laylah. Cyrus thanked her for the gift, kissing her lightly on the cheek. But he had to argue what she'd said.

"I told you mother, I will never leave you," he insisted, wondering why she thought he would.

Laylah smiled sadly as she reached up to brush some of his wavy hair out of his face. She knew he meant every word he spoke now, but the relationship between a child and their parent was one that was meant to grow apart.

One day he would leave, he just didn't realize it yet.

**The Fourth**

Cyrus was fairly certain Amir had lost his mind. Not just Amir though, the whole lot of them must've fallen and addled their brains. "Are you crazy? I'm all for causing some trouble now and again, but this is insanity."

Amir rolled his eyes as Rami spoke up. "You want a gift for your mother, don't you Cyrus? You know as well as the rest of us that Javad has many lovely trinkets that he has no use for. You want something special to give your mother, and we want pretty things for the girls we are courting."

"That is well and good, but stealing from this person in particular is going to be risky, if not the stupidest thing we've ever done," Cyrus insisted, glancing towards the home of the man in question. It was dark, not a flicker of light from within to indicate anyone was home, or even alive.

"I'm sure we'll do things even stupider than this in time. Javad has been hording these things for years, and you know as well as the rest of us that he did not come by any of it honestly, he used magic and tricks to get everything he has," Amir said.

Cyrus shot him a stern look then. "Exactly, magic. You don't anger someone with magic, he could turn you into something unpleasant or just make your life miserable. This is a fool's errand."

In the end, they convinced him. He was never certain how, but they managed to talk him into their little adventure. And it went smoothly, until the end of course.

Cyrus had thought they would all leave together, and he had been under the misguided impression this was just to take one thing each, but as it turned out Amir and Rami were a touch greedy. Cyrus would admit, the sorcerer had many lovely trinkets and such that he would never have a use for, and he could understand why they wanted to relieve him of them, but it made more sense to take one thing and get out in a hurry.

But at the first hint of trouble his friends left in a rush, their pockets filled with little trinkets and baubles. Cyrus had made to follow them but found himself caught in the grip of someone or something. He'd turned to find himself looking at the man they were stealing from, and for someone that looked like he was at least a hundred years old he had an amazingly strong grip.

"So, you fancied you could steal from me did you?" Javad snarled, dragging Cyrus away from the open window. "It would appear your friends have left you in the lurch, quite a pity for you. They've stolen much of value to me."

"Excuse me? How can that be when you've used tricks and deceit to steal from most everyone around you," Cyrus countered, thinking afterwards he likely should have kept his mouth shut. He was only making the situation worse.

Javad grinned, and it wasn't the most pleasant of sights. "Oh the stories that are told, they keep most of you fools away from me. Yes some things I used magic and the likes to acquire, but not all of it. Not that it matters to you now, you will be the one to pay for what you've stolen, as well as all your friends took."

"That's not fair," Cyrus said, at a complete loss for any other argument. The fact he saw the old man take a brass bottle off a high shelf with the wave of his hand was a bit unnerving. This was not going to end well.

"Life isn't fair my boy. You will pay, and it will serve as a warning to all to never steal from me again. Don't entertain any notions of freeing yourself of this punishment either, as I always make sure there is no way out."

And with that, Cyrus knew he was about to break that promise he'd made his mother.

**The Fifth**

He'd tried a few times to gain freedom from his punishment, but it always ended poorly. Not only did he end up in his bottle once more, but the master who wished him free would come to horrible misfortune. That didn't mean he wouldn't try a few more times, but after awhile he began to realize he was being selfish.

Why should someone else pay for what he desired? He should have walked away that night and let the two he thought were his friends do as they pleased. They hadn't cared all that much for him, as they'd obviously left him to take the fall.

He didn't care about them, it didn't matter one bit what happened to his supposed friends after he'd been cursed. He had his doubts they even grieved much for him, truth be told. They'd needed someone to take the fall and he'd just been foolish enough to go along with it. They both knew he loved his mother and wanted to give her something special, so he'd been easy to tempt.

Cyrus had no idea how much time had passed since he'd been made a genie, all he knew was he'd passed into the hands of many different people. He had recently given up on his foolish bid to gain freedom once more to seek out his mother. He longed to see her again, he hoped somehow his bottle would find its' way to her, or at least someone who could take him to her.

It was the only wish he harboured now, as freedom was one he knew he'd never have. Javad was vindictive, and Cyrus wondered at times how many other people he'd bestowed this punishment upon.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind and reached into his vest to pull the compass out of the pocket within. He kept it close at all times, as no matter where he was it would always point him to where she was. It gave him comfort to know she was somewhere, and it was the reason he continued to hold out hope he would see her again.

He glanced at the compass, the smile fading as he watched it spin in a circle, never stopping to point in one direction. It made no sense; it had always been able to find his mother, why had it stopped?

Cyrus shook it, thinking maybe it was just acting up. Magic was tricky, he knew that well enough now, but even after that it simply spun in a circle. He felt his heart clench in his chest as a soft whisper of 'no' escaped through his slightly parted lips.

His hopes of seeing his mother again were shattered now, she had obviously moved on to wherever mortals went when life ended. Somewhere he could never go now.

Cyrus had promised to never leave her, and he'd broken that. Now she was lost to him as well, all he had left were his memories. He knew she would never be truly gone so long as he remembered her, but it was little comfort.

An all too familiar pull washed over him, and he quickly wiped at his eyes with his shirt. This was his life now, and he had duties to fulfill whether he liked it or not. He'd let go of the anger a long time ago over this punishment, and resigned himself to the fact he'd spend his entire life granting wishes.

He had all eternity to mourn for his mother, but for now he had a new master. Mourning could wait, there were rules to be explained and wishes to be granted. He only hoped this was another kind master, as he was certain right then he couldn't handle one of a less than pleasant nature. Not when he was trying to come to terms with the fact his mother was lost to him forever.

_AN: This really doesn't fit with my other stories, I wrote it for something else I'm doing and needed an expanded back story for Cyrus to fit. Likely nothing like what we're about to get, and even though I had my trepidation on it I'm really excited to see it. If they handle it just right he is going to have so much depth, but I've felt there is a lot more to him than meets the eye from the start. Just a pity they've wasted so much time. Anyway, hope this is enjoyable._


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